The California Post endorses Steve Hilton for governor.

Hilton has run an impressive and bold campaign.

The Republican has introduced new ideas that even some Democrats have embraced, like allowing Californians to pay no taxes on income up to $150,000.

He has also urged California to lower fuel prices by getting rid of high gas taxes and the costly “green energy” policies that add massive costs to household budgets without doing anything for the planet.

On housing, Hilton has urged California to build out, not up, returning to the single-family homes that people want — not ugly high-rises.

And Hilton has stood up to the madness on the transgender issue, defending the rights of girls in sports, and the rights of parents to know what is going on with their children.

Despite the odds stacked against him, Hilton has worked tirelessly across the state, even going to Skid Row and “fentanyl alley” to show the consequences of decades of bad policy in Sacramento.

His opponent, Democrat Xavier Becerra, was nobody’s first choice in the primary. Even former Obama administration staffers were appalled that he might move ahead to the general election.

Close Obama advisor Susan Rice once called Becerra an idiot, a remark she did not deny even when backing her party’s nominee.

Becerra is simply an empty suit. He has failed upwards his entire political career.

Becerra was a do-nothing congressman in Washington. Then he became California’s attorney general when Kamala Harris left, despite his dormant law license. He was invisible as Joe Biden’s HHS secretary, and has no real achievements to speak of, despite decades of involvement in politics.

The stakes could not be higher. The California dream is falling apart.

Yes, we still have the fourth biggest economy in the world. But we also lead the nation in poverty and homelessness.

Businesses that started here are leaving the state, taking jobs with them. That’s especially true in Hollywood, which is losing tens of thousands of jobs.

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For 16 years, Democrats have done whatever they wanted to in California, and results are a disaster.

We have watched the California dream being trampled by the politics of extremism, envy and division. Our big cities have been trashed by rioters. And now socialists want to take over.

While our politicians lecture us about climate change, they allow hundreds of thousands of acres to burn in wildfires every year, erasing all the gains in emissions, and causing untold misery to tens of thousands of homeowners.

Fraud is rampant throughout our government programs, even as spending is out of control.

Our infrastructure is crumbling, our schools are failing, and nobody in Sacramento seems to want to do anything about it.

We are seeing the results of nearly two decades of one-party misrule. And the Democrats have given us a candidate who promises to change nothing.

As Becerra said during the recent debate: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.

This year, California voters have a real choice.